President Obama is worried about the housing market. And he should be.

So, earlier this month, the president proposed lowering insurance rates on federally insured mortgages issued to first-time home buyers, minorities and struggling Americans.

The White House said this idea could bring 250,000 new home buyers into the market and lower refinancing costs for another 800,000 homeowners.

That’s swell. But it’s a drop in the bucket — up to 2.5 million homes would be sold to first-timers in a healthy housing market.

Here’s the problem. If modest benefits like this are the difference between someone buying a home or not buying a home, that person probably shouldn’t buy.

Why?

Because the smallest setback in personal finances — health problem, major auto repair, loss of jobs or lower overtime — will mean the buyer ultimately loses the house to foreclosure.

If Obama really wanted to help the housing market, he’d do what I suggested: Work with Congress to change the laws on how retirement savings can be used. Let people with IRAs, 401(k)s and Keoghs use some of that money to purchase real estate.

This, admittedly, wouldn’t help the same segment of society that Obama is trying to get to vote for the Democrats. But it would help the housing market a lot more than the president’s puny proposal.

And once housing gets back on its feet, the industry will help produce better-paying jobs than the ones now being created. That, in turn, will mean people won’t need the president’s crumbs — and his crummy idea — to be able to make their first-time home purchase.

When I get around to it, I’ll call the president and the Republicans to see if they are interested in knowing more.

Last week I wrote about my encounter with the Fake IRS — the scam artists who phone and try to convince people that they are in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. Turn over some money, these con artists say, and the trouble will go away.

I got these emails from readers who had experiences of their own.

John: I was reading about your Fake IRS incident when I suddenly remembered my own.

Apparently I have also been receiving these kinds of calls for months. They are saying things like: “They are getting ready to file a lawsuit against me to collect unpaid taxes.”

I can tell you these calls are very disturbing. I haven’t told my wife about them because I don’t want to upset her. But I have called the Real IRS and asked them if I owed any taxes. The IRS said everything was fine, and then I complained about the calls.

They asked me to file a criminal complaint online. And then I called Verizon and they gave me a number to call and have the calls blocked permanently.

I truly hope it works because all this is beginning to get to me. Sometimes it upsets me so much I just want to do away with my landline phone. It’s too bad the FBI and other federal agencies cannot force the phone companies to create some sort of tracking program to pinpoint these morons! Joe

The next time you get a call like this, invite the “IRS” over to your house so they “can kiss your ass.”

And if you think that’ll upset your wife, give them my address and they can come and kiss mine. (The Post address, please, not my home.)

Why are these calls upsetting you? The incompetence of New York sports teams is upsetting. Blizzards and the price of a college education are upsetting. You should have fun with these crank phone calls.

John: I just read your article on the Fake IRS. I was really surprised at the timing on this. I just received a call from the “US Dept. of Legal Affairs.” A woman with a very heavy accent wanted to talk with my wife about a serious financial matter.

She would not discuss it with me and said my wife was being prosecuted and they could help. I was sure it was a scam — and then I just happened to read your article.

I have called the number several times and get an answering machine. J.M.

J.M.: Remember, the IRS would never call a taxpayer. You’d get a letter in the mail and it would be dripping in blood.

John: Regarding the IRS scam. I’ve also gotten a number of those calls. I’ve also called back the numbers — the three different numbers they used, in the 877, 202 and 904 area codes.

The last one said he was “Steve Martin.” I told him he did not sound like a Steve Martin and played it out until he hung up. Bob

Bob: As happened in my case, the scammers seem to be using MagicJack, the phone device popular with people who watch TV late at night. I’m surprised they didn’t try to sell you a flex-hose while they were at it.

One, at least, had the smarts to use the 202 area code, which looks like it could be from a government agency.